Jun 26 Dear Sugar Radio

Agony aunt enthusiasts will likely be familiar with Sugar, aka Cheryl Strayed, aka the author of Wild. For a number of years, Strayed wrote a wildly (sorry) popular advice column for The Rumpus, in which she issued her now-signature brand of warm, loving, straight-talking wisdom - the advice of a person who understands you and believes in you and doesn't want you to fuck it up. The tone is well-translated in this podcast iteration, in which Strayed and co-host Steve Almond (also a writer) respond to listener letters around a common theme. The letters are sometimes trivial, often serious - vulnerable outpourings, flares in the dark - and Strayed and Almond's responses are characteristically thoughtful. Listen for the reasons that make any advice column addictive: the vicarious thrill, the occasional prick of recognition, and the comfort of believing that at least one person will always have an answer.

Earlier episodes appear to have dropped off the feed, but the most recent 20 are available now.